Life Goes On
by SoSmallWriter
Summary: Olivia has retired and thankfully she has Brian by her side to help her realize that life goes on.


Olivia never knew that leaving SVU would change her life. She would never forget her time there and the great friends she had grew to love. She would never forget the day she packed up her desk into one small box and said her goodbyes. Goodbye wasn't meant forever in this term. She still planned on keeping in touch and hopefully have her friends over for family dinners every Sunday evening. She would also never forget the first day she started work at the precinct and she certainly wouldn't forget the last. The 1-6 had been a home to her for several years and now she was moving on... moving to a new home. A much happier one.

"I'm back," Brian said as he entered their home with two bags of groceries. He sat them down on the kitchen counter and then greeted Olivia with a loving kiss. "I bought all of the stuff on the list but they didn't have any fresh apples so I had to go to the market. That's why it took so long."

Olivia smiled and thanked Brian for running to the store and getting the things they needed for dinner. It was the first Sunday that Olivia had been retired. In some way it was a celebration; a way of saying that Olivia had a life outside of her job.

"Are you okay?" Brian asked when he noticed she seemed a little spaced out.

"Never better."

Brian gave her another kiss and this disappeared to put the groceries away. Olivia was going to join him when their ten year old daughter came rushing into the room. "Mommy! Mommy! I got a boo-boo!"

Elizabeth hopped on the couch next to Olivia and showed her a small scrape on her knee. "What happened?" Olivia questioned.

"I fell and landed on a toy," Elizabeth said innocently.

Olivia smiled, "that's why you should listen when Mommy and Daddy tell you to clean your room."

Elizabeth huffed and crossed her arms tight in front of her chest. She had so many toys that she would drag out everyday and play with but she never liked the cleaning up part. That was the main reason she was in time-out a lot.

"Go clean your room so you can show it to everyone when they get here," Olivia instructed gently.

"Are they going to play dolls with me?"

Olivia chuckled, "probably not but, if you clean your room maybe you and Daddy can play dolls later."

This seemed to satisfy Elizabeth and she took off running to her room with her brown curls bouncing as she went. Elizabeth had truly been a blessing to Brian and Olivia and she was a constant reminder to them of the good things they had in life. If it wasn't for her and Brian, Olivia knew she wouldn't be taking retirement so easily. Although she had been enjoying not getting calls in the middle of the night anymore.

"You need any help?" Olivia asked as she appeared in the kitchen where Brian was beginning to cook dinner.

"Sure," he said, "why don't you start the noodles." As tough as Brian was there was no way denying what a good cook he was. His specialty was fettuccine Alfredo so that's what he was making.

Olivia grabbed a pot from the cabinet and filled it with water while Brian was busy cooking the chicken. They worked well together in the kitchen and Olivia found it quite humerous. When she first got with Brian she never would have guessed he was good in the kitchen.

"Can you believe it's been a week?" Olivia asked as she poured the bow tie shaped pasta into the pan of water.

Brian gave her a quick glance in hopes of reading her face. He wasn't sure at first whether she would handle retirement well. He knew the job had been a good part of her life for a long while. He just hoped he could make her new life a little easier.

"It's been a good week, right?"

Olivia grinned, "the best."

"To be honest," Brian began leaning up against the kitchen sink and crossing his arms, "I didn't think you would walk out of that building so easily."

Olivia sighed. "It wasn't easy," she admitted, "but I knew what I was coming home to." Her eyes were glossy now. She still wondered what she was going to do with her days now that she didn't spend them at work. Sure she could spend them with her daughter but, what happened when Elizabeth was all grown up and moved away?

"Hey," Brian said gently seeing that she was getting upset, "it's okay." He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her tight. He hated when she cried. It made him want to cry, too.

"I just... I thought I would have more to walk away with," she said sadly. "Being on the job for so many years... I just... I came home with a box. One box."

"That box is everything, Liv," Brian said as he ran his hand through her hair. "All your achievements are in that box. Without that job, you wouldn't be you. We wouldn't have met."  
Olivia smiled at this. She was so thankful that Brian had been brought back into her life. She couldn't imagine now how she ever lived without him. "You're right..."  
"I always am," Brian teased as he rubbed the small of her back, "now let's get dinner cooked so we can enjoy the celebration."

The hours went by quickly as people from work started showing up. Fin and Munch, Nick and his kids, Amanda, even Cragen. They were all gathered around the kitchen table and talking and sporting laughs. Olivia thought the moment to be beautiful. She never pictured that her life would end up this way. So beautiful and so serene. As if the moment were to be anymore perfect; Brian walked up behind her and wrapped his arm around her. She leaned into him. "I told you I could give a happy ending."

_"This is it," Olivia whispered as she put the last picture frame into the box that sat atop her desk. She turned to Brian who was sitting in her chair waiting for her to be ready. He offered her a kind smile and then stood up, reaching for her hand. _

_ "See ya, Liv," Amanda said with tears in her eyes. It only made it harder for Olivia. She remembered the first day that Amanda was on the job. She hadn't exactly been nice to work with those first few weeks._

_ "See ya," Olivia said as she pulled away from Brian and gave Amanda a goodbye hug._

_ "There's no telling what kind of partner I'm going to have now," Nick teased as he too gave Olivia a hug._

_ "Well now it's up to you to teach her the ropes."_

_ With Olivia retiring, Fin also decided to turn in his papers. It just wasn't going to be the same at work anymore and it was his time to move on in his life._

_ "You ready?" Brian asked as Olivia made her way back to her desk and scooped the box up in her arms._

_ She nodded, not trusting her voice. She reached down to grab hold of Brian's hand and together they walked out of the precinct for the last time._

"I never doubted you," Olivia said to Brian before they shared a special kiss and then joined everyone at table.


End file.
